


The Garden

by kaleidorosescope



Category: LOONA (Korea Band)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Fantasy, I'm Bad At Tagging, Implied/Referenced Abuse, K-Pop - Freeform, LGBTQ Themes, LOONAVERSE Universe, Loona - Freeform, 이달의 소녀 - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:29:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24799990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaleidorosescope/pseuds/kaleidorosescope
Summary: Ha Sooyung has attended the secluded Eden Performing Arts Boarding School for as long as she could remember. But, when a mysterious girl turns up unconscious on the door step of Eden, everything Sooyung knew about herself and her world is changed.
Kudos: 10





	The Garden

Another pulled muscle, another handful of bruises.

Ha Sooyung sat in the middle of the dark and empty practice room, tenderly wrapping her freshly wounded hamstring. Even with each wall being adorned with mirrors, Sooyung refused to look at herself. Only two weeks before another self-evaluation would come again.

The brunette shakily stood up, pulling a pair of tights up over the bandange. Only taking less than a few seconds to adjust her uniform and buckle her shoes, Sooyung threw her hair over her shoulder and snatched up her bag that sat alone near the door. She hurriedly left the room and darted down an equally empty hallway with a smile plastering itself on her fair features.

Sooyung rounded a corner, her pace quickening as she spotted a familiar redhead only a few more feet away from her. The redheaded girl snapped her neck into Sooyung’s direction right as her shoes clicking against the ground were in earshot. A warm smile spread across her face, shooting a flash of heat to Sooyung’s cheeks.

“How’d it go?” the redhead excitedly asked, “was she impressed?”

Sooyung came to a stop and jokingly rolled her eyes, “You know how she is, Jiwoo, there’s no way she would even show a hint of being impressed.”

“But. . . I think it went pretty well.”

Jiwoo squealed and threw her arms around the taller girl, standing on the tips of her toes to strangle Sooyung in a tight embrace. “I knew it! You always do amazing on your evaluations!”

Sooyung’s chest almost seemed to swell in pride once Jiwoo had latched onto her. Seeing Jiwoo so happy for her made Sooyung just as happy-- if not even more. Most of this happiness was a facade, however. The headmaster terrified Sooyung to her very core.

After a complete minute of silence and a tight embrace, Sooyung wasn’t able to bring her focus back to Jiwoo. The redhead was already onto the next topic, chattering away without even noticing that Sooyung wasn’t paying attention.

Ever since Sooyung had transferred into Eden Performing Arts Boarding School, the brown haired girl had a lingering sense of fear that she could never put her finger on. Eden was a mysterious, and extremely old, boarding school for girls that was completely surrounded by a dense forest.

To her peers, Eden was a garden that grew and harvested only the best quality of fruit. This fruit was only the greatest and the sweetest. But for Sooyung, Eden was a prison.

Everytime she met with the headmaster to go over the school’s ritualistic student evaluation to examine the student body’s artistic abilities, or whether or not students would continue attending the boarding school, Sooyung’s fear was met. Yet, her intuition of distress was never fulfilled to know what it was caused by.

However, meeting Kim Jiwoo changed all that. From their first encounter, Jiwoo made Sooyung feel a way that she had never felt before; it was a feeling that no one else could make her feel. She made Sooyung want to continue attending Eden.

Afterall, wasn’t the Garden of Eden supposed to be a paradise?

_“Sooyung?”_

The taller girl snapped out of her daze on cue, blinking her brown eyes rapidly before locking her focus onto Jiwoo. “Are you feeling okay?” Jiwoo questioned, pressing a hand against Sooyung’s forehead, “you weren’t listening to me were you?

Sooyung’s back slightly slumped as she took the shorter female’s hand off of her face, cracking an awkward laugh as she did so, “No, I wasn’t, I was thinking about something.”

“I’m sorry, Jiwoo, what were you--”

A flash of yellow and black darted down the hallway past Sooyung and Jiwoo, a large group of fellow students hastily dashing away, the echoes of whispering bouncing off the walls that they ran by. “What was that about?” Jiwoo inquired, straining her neck to see where the horde of girls ran off to, stragglers following suit.

The redhead’s shoes clicked against the marble floor as she distanced herself from Sooyung, making her way to the window that loomed over the end of the corridor.

“Sooyung! Jiwoo!”

Both the girls whipped their heads around to see two girls bounding down the hallway, headed in their direction. The taller of the two reached them first, the second right on her heels, panting as her blonde hair bounced on her shoulders.

“You guys-- need to-- check this out!” gasped out the blonde, licking her lips as she rested her hands on her knees.

“What is everyone running around about, Chaewon?” Jiwoo worriedly asked, her eyebrows knitted together in growing panic. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two girls, stopping at the girl by her side, “is someone injured, Hyejoo?”

A growing feeling of dread settled in Sooyung’s stomach.

“No-- _well_ , sort of--” sputtered out Chaewon.

Hyejoo put a hand on Chaewon’s back, her own black hair cascading over her shoulders, “There’s a girl passed out near the front entrance.”

A student falling unconscious wasn’t an unusual thing at Eden. Quite frankly, several students fainted on the daily. However, the sinking feeling in her stomach began to tell her that it was much more than any other student passing out.

Sooyung began to pick up speed to where the other students ran off to, “Was it a student? A teacher?”

“That’s the thing, Sooyung-- no one knows.”

* * *

Sooyung bound as fast as she could to the scene, the three others following closely behind. The scorching pain in her thigh screamed for her to stop running, but the worry in her mind and the odd feeling in her stomach tuned out her pain. Sooyung even subconsciously drowned out the yelling of her name from Jiwoo.

The brunette came to a skidding stop once she threw open the front doors, her eyes scanning through the mass of students that had already formed into a clustered, lopsided circle.

While teachers were trying their best to keep students back and push them inside, Sooyung forced herself through the large crowd, whatever breath that she was going to exhale hitched in her throat.

Sprawled out on the gravel was a teenage girl, looking not even a day over fourteen, in a torn white and blue dress disgustingly stained with blood, and what looked like vomit.

Her chestnut hair looked no better, remnants of a bloody nose dried clumps of her hair together, not to mention the ghastly amount of knots and burrs that littered the majority of her head.

“Oh my _god_ ,” gasped Jiwoo. Sooyung hadn’t noticed when she came to her side, but the redhead had already said exactly what Sooyung was thinking.

Eden was not that large of a school. On the contrary, the building’s size was laughable to the amount of girls who actually attended the school. Many students had come and gone during Sooyung’s attendance, but _this_ was unheard of.

A strange girl appearing at the doorstep of a boarding school with the same type of isolation as of Eden’s was impossible; completely unthinkable.

While Sooyung was deep in thought, she didn’t even notice the headmaster by the girl’s side. Sooyung’s brown eyes looked up and down the young girl’s appearance, only imagining what could’ve happened to her before she stumbled upon Eden.

The blonde headmaster finally stood, shouting for students to make way for a nurse to come through. Sooyung expected the woman to be stressed by the situation, but she never expected her to look so _angry._

Anger was an understatement at most. If anything, Sooyung had thought that she had seen every layer of anger that the headmaster had. She was _fuming_ , completely and utterly _infuriated._

Curiosity was already racking her brain, Sooyung didn’t understand why the headmaster would even be so outraged; it was starting to frighten her more than the woman already had.

Sooyung felt a tug on her arm, whipping her head around to meet the panicking face of Jiwoo’s. “Sooyung, I think we need to go,” Jiwoo spoke with an urgency in her tone, pulling on Sooyung’s arm even more.

The redhead’s complexion was turning pale, Sooyung knew she didn’t like situations where people were hurt.

The taller female looked back once more at the unconscious girl’s splayed out form, biting her lip not knowing whether or not to stay. Yet, Jiwoo’s expanding state of panic convinced Sooyung to silently nod, the two weaving their way through the groups of girls surrounding them.

* * *

“We need to get in there and see her! I’m dying to know what even happened to her-- I mean, look at her!” Chaewon rambled, thrusting hand to the window the four girls were using to peep into the locked school’s infirmary.

“Jesus Chaewon, don’t you think she’s already been through enough? She doesn’t need us-- or anyone else in that matter-- to bombard and overwhelm her,” Jiwoo rebutted, tightly squeezing her crossed arms onto her chest.

Sooyung gazed at Jiwoo as she and the blonde began to bicker back and forth. She knew just how much Jiwoo wanted to go in and help the girl, but there was virtually nothing that they could do except wait and pray that they could somehow visit her.

The brunette looked past the arguing duo and found herself staring at Hyejoo who leaned up against the opposite wall, ogling at her feet. Hyejoo was never the talkative type to Sooyung, but her and Chaewon were obviously close. She could tell how much she didn’t want to be there, especially since they were now breaking several of Eden’s rules, including curfew.

Sooyung shuddered at the thought of what the headmaster would do if they were caught. “I honestly don’t give a shit about what you want anymore Chaewon, we need to get back to our dorms, if we stay out here too long--”

_Click. . . click. . . click. ._

All four girls went completely silent. There was someone walking down the hallway. There was someone who was going to catch them.

Sooyung didn’t even need to utter a word before leaping off and rounding a corner, the others not far behind her.

Sliding to a stop, Sooyung was met with a dead end; the back doors of the infirmary laughing in her face. How stupid of her not to remember, the infirmary had a one way hallway.

“What do we do now?” Chaewon hissed, struggling to keep her voice down.

“We need to get into the infirmary or else we’re going to be found out!” Jiwoo sputtered back. “Are you thick? We’ve been trying that for the past hour now! There’s no possible way that we’re getting in--”

Hyejoo rammed her body against the large doors. This certainly surprised Sooyung, she had never seen Hyejoo take such initiative before.

The raven haired girl shoved her shoulder against the doors once more, slight pants slipping past her lips.

Chaewon was exceptionally alarmed by this behavior. “Hyejoo, _please_ stop, you’re going to hurt yourself!”

Hyejoo ignored what the blonde had to say. With one loud grunt, she kicked the center of the doors, the entryway swinging open.

Just as soon as each one of them were past the doors, Sooyung slammed them shut, trying to salvage whatever she could from the lock that Hyejoo had broken.

Yet, the heels were quickening. With each step, they became louder and louder, echoing back and forth between the brunette’s ears. There was nothing else that she could do, so Sooyung hastily threw herself to the ground and slid under an empty bed.

Sooyung laid perfectly still, even holding her breath to avoid being heard at all. Despite all this, Sooyung felt as if her racing heartbeat would give them all away.

She didn’t even know where the others were. What if she were the reason why they get caught? Were they even able to hide? Sooyung was so wrapped up in hiding herself that the other’s safety and keeping them from also being found had completely slipped her mind.

Sooyung couldn’t live with herself if she was the reason Jiwoo would face the same treatment she’s received from the headmaster.

The infirmary doors burst open. Sooyung squeezed her eyes shut.

_Click. . click. . click_

The heels hitting the ground were mocking her. Sooyung had accepted her fate, she was going to be found. It’d be all her fault.

They were getting closer. Sooyung could feel it. Whether it be the headmaster or any other teacher, she was prepared to face them.

Sooyung waited.

And waited.

Sooyung couldn’t hold her breath any longer. Letting out a loud burst, the brunette slapped her hands over her mouth as she realized what she had done. “Sooyung?”

This was it, this was Sooyung’s final moment.

Sooyung slowly peeled her eyes open. Her hands slipped off her face and fell to the side of her head. It was Jiwoo.

An exasperated sigh exited Sooyung, earning a giggle from the redhead. “C’mon, get up!” From all the commotion the four girls and their follower had made, it boggled Sooyung’s mind how the girl had not woken up yet.

The brunette slid herself out from under the bed, her limbs feeling like jelly, yet propped herself up onto her feet once more. Hyejoo and Chaewon stood behind Jiwoo, matching anxious expressions painted on their faces.

“We need to leave, whoever came after us is going to check the dorms and figure out that we’ve snuck out,” Chaewon insisted. This was the first thing that she came out of her mouth for the entire night that Sooyung agreed with.

Sooyung silently nodded, turning on her heel to beeline to the doors.

“Who’s… there?”

A single light was sparked, illuminating the cavern that was the infirmary.

Sooyung slowly turned her head around. The unconscious girl was now awake. How perfect.

The young girl’s eyes widened and fear was written all over her face. Crawling backwards on the squeaky bed she laid in, she pressed her back against the headboard, “Don’t come any closer! If you do I-I’ll--” She choked out, wobbly as she attempted standing up.

Sooyung began to take a step backwards, putting an arm in front of Jiwoo, “We’re just leaving! Please-- _please_ excuse our intrusion!”

The four girls shuffled to the door, Chaewon whispering something to Hyejoo that Sooyung couldn’t pick up.

The young girl gasped, Sooyung wincing and turning her face to the side, waiting for their assailant’s shoes to begin clicking down the hallway once more.

“You’re Ha Sooyung! It’s really you! A-And you’re Kim Jiwoo, Park Chaewon, and Son Hyejoo!”

Wait-- how did this girl know their names? Sooyung had never met her before.

“I’ve found you! I’ve _finally_ found you!”

Sooyung shot a look at Jiwoo, but she seemed just as puzzled as the brunette was.

“Oh, there’s so much I want to tell you! You guys won’t believe how long I’ve been looking for you all!” The girl gushed, crawling to the end of her squeaky bed. She was ecstatic, her brown eyes just as wide, but completely different compared to how she reacted moments ago.

Chaewon pushed past Sooyung, stepping closer to the young brunette. “How did you even find us? We’re cut off from all technology here,” Chaewon began joking, “I mean, I can’t even remember what country we’re in!”

The girl giggled, Chaewon’s joking nature paying off. “I came here looking for you. All of you”

Is she delusional? Maybe she’s talking crazy because of how bad of a state she was in hours ago.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t even know your name,” Jiwoo spoke, “we don’t know who you are.”

The girl’s lightened features disappeared in less than a second. She sucked in a long breath and slowly stood up on the infirmary bed.

“My name is Im Yeojin, and you all need to leave with me.”

_"_ _Immediately.”_

Yep, she’s crazy.

“Alright, Im Yeojin, why do you need us to leave with you?” Jiwoo disbelievingly continued, trying to play along with her.

Yeojin kept a straight face, almost seeming annoyed by Jiwoo’s question.

“I’m from another dimension. _Our_ dimension.” Yeojin studied each of the four faces, her eyebrows turning upwards.

_“I’m here to rescue you!”_


End file.
